Merry Christmas (2009 edition)

Above are some of our attempts to take a decent photo for a Christmas letter. We really should hire a professional photographer around here.

Our Christmas letter this year only made it out to a few people on our list, so I thought I’d post it here too.

10 December 2009

Dear ones far and near,

The past week has been chilly here in Portland. Chilly enough to make it feel like Christmas. And Christmas makes us want to connect with our family and friends—especially the ones we’ve been meaning to call or write or email for a long time. So that’s what this is—our end-of-the-year, we-haven’t-forgotten-you-and-still-want-to-be-your-friends letter.

It’s been an eventful year for us. Silvia Raine Miller joined our family in March. Obviously, this has changed our lives in many ways, but we’re happy to report that the changes have been mostly delightful. Silvie is a plump, rosy-cheeked little girl with a ready smile. She’s cruising around and chortling and feeding rice cereal off of her high chair to the dogs. She has stolen our hearts (even the dog’s).

In August we spent a couple of weeks in Indiana with our families. When we returned, Deb went back to work for the school district. We were prepared to have Silvie in daycare, but just as school was about to begin, Nate was laid off from his job and has been able to stay home and care for her. While this was not exactly our plan, it is working out well for now. We are hopeful that the economy will recover in the new year, and Nate will be able to go back to work.

There have not been too many other changes. We live in the same house with the same dogs—Keegan and Abraham. We have four chickens—Amelia Earhart, Rita Hayworth, Isabella Bird and Audrey Hepbird. They lay eggs for us when they feel like it. We go to the same church—Imago Dei Community. We are still married. In fact, we’re celebrating our 14th anniversary this month.

We hope this letter finds you snuggled up at home with those you love and filled with hope as we celebrate the birth of Christ,